


Sebastian's Past, & Other Meta

by ArgentNoelle



Series: Meta/Essays [5]
Category: Kuroshitsuji | Black Butler
Genre: Aesthetics, Animal Traits, Butlers, Character Analysis, Character Development, Curses, Dancing, Essays, Friendship, Gen, Meta, The Black Death, The Necronomicon, The plague, Waltzing, Witches, hunger, viennese waltz
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-17
Updated: 2020-09-13
Packaged: 2020-10-20 09:15:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20672939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArgentNoelle/pseuds/ArgentNoelle
Summary: A collection of meta about Sebastian's character. Everything from: What do we know about Sebastian's past, before he made the contract with Ciel? To: what does being one hell of a butler really mean?*****"Even Ciel assumes that Sebastian secretly wants to act worse than he usually does; for example, in chapter 99, during the Green Witch arc, when Ciel tells Sebastian to get rid of the evidence. As usual, Sebastian asks Ciel if he’s sure he should be leaving the details to him (similar to his speech in the ripper arc, after revealing he sent Ciel on a wild goose chase and threw all his papers in the air—and before he knelt down and picked them all up again, because he’s a drama queen but he’s also a butler and someone has to do it). Ciel says, 'I won’t be there, and there won’t be any survivors. Feel free to go crazy like a beast.'As Sebastian destroys the evidence, he thinks, 'Ahh. My master. You’re misunderstanding something. What I find most entertaining now… is playing the butler in my game with you. It’s not behaving like a frenzied beast. However, if that’s how you like me, I’ll act accordingly.'"





	1. Sebastian's Past

**Author's Note:**

> In a comment on my previous Black Butler meta, "Alternate Endings: Butlers & Masters in Black Butler, and how they parallel Sebastian & Ciel", Lockdown asked if I would consider writing an analysis on just Sebastian. This is that meta... part 1. Because it turned really long, and I'm still not done with it... oops?
> 
> This chapter is the one with the most facts/outside references and the least analysis, as it is basically a list of everything known about Sebastian's past.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What do we know about Sebastian's past, before he made the contract with Ciel?

As far as Sebastian’s past goes, we’ve had hints dropped here and there: the oldest reference he makes (in the anime) can be pinpointed to around 1335 BC, which means that he must be _ at least _—as of the start of the series, in 1888—around 3,223 years old. In 2x04 (Terrorist Butler) he and Ciel are on a train when they run into the apparent mummy of the Pharaoh Smenkhkare. Sebastian is surprised to notice that the man, even the mummified version, doesn’t look at all how he remembered him. (It turns out that it *wasn’t* the real mummy after all.) To Ciel, he says, “I was fortunate enough to have met the Pharaoh during his lifetime, actually; I found him to be an affable man of impeccable virtue.” From this we can conclude that Smenkhkare made some kind of an impression on Sebastian. After all, he still remembers what the man looked like, as well as saying he was “fortunate enough” to have met him. Neither does it seem that the man was particularly evil; instead, Sebastian describes him as good-natured and virtuous, and from the tone of his remembrances, seems to hold some respect for him. He even sounds a bit like Agni.

Smenkhkare is a pretty interesting choice for a pharaoh for Sebastian to have met. Not much is known about this pharaoh. To paraphrase [wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smenkhkare) the pharaoh didn’t live very long, and most of the information known is lost or muddled. Some highlights of various theories: an early one was that Smenkhkare changed his or her name to Neferneferuaten when he or her began his or her sole reign; or that Smenkhkare was Nefertiti; that Smenkhkare and Akhenaten were co-regents and that they were in a homosexual relationship; or, later, that Smenkhkare and a female king were both using the same name—it was later decided that Neferneferuaten and Smenkhkare were definitely two different people, not one, with Neferneferuaten being either Nefertiti or Meritaten . As a parallel for Ciel, the choice of this particular pharaoh is especially interesting. The pharaoh didn’t rule for very long (1—3 years at the most), was thought to have changed his name (hm…) was thought to be one person but was in fact two (even more hm…) And in fact, this is the same episode where we learn that the late (as of the end of the anime season 1) Fred Abberline had a twin brother. But back to Sebastian: I can think of no better place for him to have been during ancient times than Egypt, because _ cats _, of course!

In chapter 5 of the manga, you learn of Sebastian’s like for cats for the first time. He says, “I find cats most agreeable. They only say (do) that which is necessary. They are quite adorable. They do not exist in my world. Pets do exist over there, but… they leave much to be desired.” The image shows a Xenomorph from the Aliens series. Apparently, those are the pets in hell. Interestingly, the visual for the [Xenomorph](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_\(creature_in_Alien_franchise\)) was created for the movie by H. R. Giger, a Swiss surrealist artist, inspired by a print he had previously created called “Necronom IV” in the artist’s illustrated book _ Necronomicon _ . Giger’s _ Necronomicon _ was in turn based on H. P. Lovecraft’s [Necronomicon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Necronomicon) , which was a grimoire made up by and referenced by Lovecraft in his stories, describing the Old Ones and how to summon them. ****

In 1x13 (His Butler, Freeloader) when Soma and Agni explain about the goddess Kali, Agni finishes his explanation by saying how in her hand is, “the head of the vile demon that she slew” Sebastian says, “I’ve never heard of a goddess with such power. I shall have to keep that in mind if I ever go back to India.” Anime-version Sebastian has definitely, then, been to India at some point in time. In the same part in the manga, chapter 16, Sebastian says instead, “I was not aware that such a strong goddess existed… I must be careful when I go to India,” which leaves it open whether he’s ever been there or not, but leans slightly more towards _ not _.

In 1x20 (His Butler, Escaping) when Sebastian is being tortured he’s asked to confess to his crimes. Sebastian takes this as an opportunity: “very well, I confess. It was I who was responsible for the outbreak of the Black Death in Europe.” There were actually multiple occurrences of the [Black Death in Europe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Death#European_outbreak). The first occurrence was in 1347, brought to Sicily on Genoese galleys. From Italy it moved on to France, Spain, Portugal, England, Germany, Scotland, Scandinavia, Norway, Bjørgvin, Iceland, and Russia. It returned through the 14th to the 17th centuries, ending with the Great Plague of London in 1665. How Sebastian was responsible for this is left open to interpretation: was he on one of those Genoese galleys? And was he responsible for just the introduction of the Plague to Europe, or for the further outbreaks as well? At any rate that puts Sebastian definitively in Europe by 1347, and perhaps he stayed in Europe until 1665. *edit* Roturier pointed out that the Silk Road (and the Mongols traveling on it) are now believed to have played a greater role in the spread of the plague than ships, and even drew Sebastian [dressed up to fit the time and place](https://aroturier.tumblr.com/post/180997836474/theres-been-a-conversation-going-on-the-black) :)

In1x03 (HisButler,Omnipotent) and the corresponding chapter of the manga, Sebastian says, in the face of Ciel's doubt, that in fact he's great at dancing: "the Viennese Waltz is my specialty. I was a guest at the Schönbrunn Palace from time to time." The [Schönbrunn Palace](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sch%C3%B6nbrunn_Palace) is, of course, in Vienna; it was built from 1638 to 1643 by Eleonora Gonzaga, and remodelled during the 1740's-50s. This puts the early days of the palace right around the time that the Black Death finallt stopped in Europe: evidently Sebastian got tired of killing people and decided to go dancing instead. There are different versions of the Waltz, and the [Viennese Waltz](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viennese_waltz) (this information also referenced in the translation notes at the end of the first volume of the manga) specifically refers to the original, faster version. The waltz was at first morally disapproved of. Unlike earlier dances, it was not communal but was instead a couple’s dance performed in a closed hold. 

We know, of course, that Sebastian’s first name was Ciel’s idea, and his namesake was Sebastian the dog. It is never stated whether Sebastian or Ciel created his last name, but I would guess Sebastian, because it is just the kind of “one hell of a butler” pun he appreciates. [Sébastien Michaëlis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A9bastien_Micha%C3%ABlis) was a French Inquisitor who dealt with cases involving witchcraft and possessions. In 1587 he wrote “ _ Pneumologie: Discours des esprits _ ” on demons, and in 1612 he wrote “ _ Histoire admirable de la possession et conversion d'une penitente _ ” both translated to English in 1613 by William Aspley as “ _ The Admirable History of Possession and Conversion of a Penitent Woman: Seduced by a Magician that Made Her to Become a Witch. _” It is even possible that Sebastian personally met Sébastien, as the man was alive during the timespan when Sebastian may have been in Europe spreading the Plague.

In chapter 87 when arriving at the village in Germany, Sebastian and Ciel have the following discussion: Sebastian says “I find it quite peculiar that you, who control a demon and have met shinigami… does not believe in curses. Also… that which binds you and myself… [image shows the sigil on his hand and Ciel’s eye] is also a type of curse.” Ciel ends up asking if Sebastian has ever met a real witch, and Sebastian says yes, he’s met many that called themself that. Ciel jokingly asks Sebastian if he’s been summoned to a Witches Sabbath and worshipped there, going on to say that he doesn’t think that’s what they were really about at all, instead being excuses to escape from reality and drown in lechery, but Sebastian is looking into the distance with an air of remembering something as he says, almost to himself, “giving up your soul for your wish. If you are not prepared to do that much, you cannot summon us. (There were some that appeared at random though.)” 

Despite his long history and the many people he’s presumably encountered, in 1x15 (His Butler, Competing) (and in Chapter 23) when Agni says, “my prince and I both made friends ideally suited to us,” Sebastian looks surprised, and says quietly to himself, after Agni has turned away, “A friend? Interesting. No one has ever referred to me as that. You sir are the first.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- all translations from the manga in this chapter are from the official translations, except for the references to the Green Witch arc
> 
> \- all anime quotes transcribed from the English dubbed version
> 
> \- and speaking of transcription, I first gathered together much of this information while working on my Black Butler transcript blog, where I (very occasionally) post transcripts of anime episodes https://kuroshitsujitranscripts.wordpress.com/ as well as totally random screenshots


	2. Butler; Beast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sebastian is one *hell* of a butler.

In chapter 5 of the manga, as Sebastian gets ready for his day, he looks in the mirror, dissatisfied, as he pushes his hair behind his ear and says to himself, “Hmm, my hair has grown rather long… what a pity… I cannot trim it as I please. Humans are most troublesome.” Apparently, Ciel has opinions about how Sebastian wears his hair. Unfortunately, it is his own fault, since when Sebastian first appeared to Ciel as a human in chapter 138, he’s got the exact same hairstyle. Perhaps it is also Sebastian’s fault that Ciel decided to give him the name of his dog, as one of the many animals he appeared to Ciel as before that was a dog. I think we may conclude that Sebastian causes his own problems…

Sebastian’s hair is actually totally wrong for a butler (Francis is right about that!)—butlers were supposed to have short hair—as are a number of other things about his appearance: the gloves, of course, are necessary to hide the contract, and Grell also wore gloves when serving as a butler [of course, Yana draws all her butlers wearing gloves, but it’s not historically accurate] because butlers weren’t supposed to wear gloves. Or watch-chains. (Which is seemingly a Phantomhive butler thing in general, as in chapter 62 in Sebastian’s cinematic record, we see Tanaka hand him both the butler pin & the pocket watch with watch-chain). Or to, heaven forbid, wear all black. (No wonder everyone comments on how Ciel came back with a butler dressed all in black. It wasn’t normal.) An excerpt from "A Book of Manners for Everyday Use" by Emily Holt, collected on avictorian.com says: "The butler must keep his hair closely cut, and his hands and fingernails, however roughened by his work, exquisitely clean when he answers the bell, brings the tea-tray, and serves at the table. White cotton gloves are not worn by the men-servants in well-managed private households. They are the insignia of the untidy waiter had in from a second-rate caterer's or a restaurant dining-room. ... [A butler must not] flourish a colored handkerchief, nor wear rings or a watch chain. His watch he can slip, without fob or chain, into his waist-coat pocket"

It’s obvious that when Sebastian first created his appearance he did not care what a butler “ought” to look like—was probably, in fact, being improper for fun. The Sebastian we see in chapter 138 is arrogant, has body-language that emphasizes his power, can hardly sit still, is flippant and flamboyant. Sometime between _ then _ and _ now _, however, being a good butler started to matter to him. He’s constantly paying attention to how Ciel is perceived by society, and trying to help him create the impression he wants to create. Ciel and Sebastian, of course, reflect on each other, as Sebastian is in Ciel’s household—is, in fact, the head of it (besides Tanaka); and it’s interesting to consider that exposure to Victorian British society rubbed off a bit on Sebastian, in regards to propriety. 

When you are about to die—or are injured by a death-scythe—your life flashes before your eyes. Interestingly enough, both times Sebastian is injured, by Grell and later by Undertaker, the life that flashes before his eyes doesn’t include any of the numerous occasions from his past that could presumably be called up. In 1x06 (At the Funeral) (and in chapter 12) Grell says, “Who are these people? What the hell is this?” on viewing the images of the other servants in Sebastian’s cinematic record. “That is what my life has been for the past two years,” Sebastian answers. And on the Campania, when trying to catch Ciel’s fall, Sebastian’s memories flash back to the first time they met and their early year together before the other servants had arrived, when they were both trying to become, respectively, earl and butler. As Ciel points out in this memory, they are both fake, and they need to become the real thing. As far as Ciel is concerned, he succeeds: when Real Ciel returns, Tanaka shows him (in chapter 151) everything that Ciel accomplished within the past three years: “ledgers of all the land taxes collected in the Earldom […] the planning documents for the implementation of development projects that your brother had put into motion. Plans for expansion of the aqueducts are already underway […] reports on the price fluctuation of resources produced in the domain […] statistics related to the income and revenue of the leased lands.” And that’s without even mentioning everything involved in running Funtom. (Interestingly, the expansion of the aqueducts was earlier mentioned in 2x02 (Solo Butler) where the whole storyline revolves around the project.) As Ciel recalls in chapter 147 when he and the others are at Lau’s place, “I’m the one who was given the title and decorations by the Queen! I’m the one who reclaimed the land and property! _ I’m _ the one who had to do this bothersome job as Earl! And _ I’m _ the one who’s been working as the Watch-Dog!”

In chapter 138 when Sebastian has first appeared to Ciel and made the contract with him, he gives his “sales pitch” — “now you have obtained the power of a demon. You shall never have to bow down to anyone ever again. You may be as proud as a king, and as loud as a beast! Release your inner desires and fulfill your wildest dreams!” What I find interesting is that this highlights how, while to Ciel this is the worst day of his life, to Sebastian this is a job. He’s done it before; he knows what to expect (or thinks he does) and he has a whole routine, starting with scary animals and ending with rote lines.

In fact, it is probably for the best that Sebastian appeared as a menagerie before appearing as a butler. We know that his first appearance made an incredible impression on Ciel (in a horrible way) but the fears that are conjured by dogs and flies and octopi, and even great big masses of black writhing tentacles with far too many eyes, are in a way very simple, and very different from the fears Ciel might associate with the people who tortured him and his brother. And in fact even from the very start, when Sebastian is overly touchy and pushy with Ciel, Ciel only gets annoyed at him, rather than disturbed. He is already comparing Sebastian to the only other similar thing in his own experience—his dog Sebastian—who was scary to him but, in the end, just a dog, an animal who had been trained to protect the Phantomhive family. 

In the negotiation scene in chapter 138, Sebastian picks Ciel up to put him on the chair and stares at him with hideous eyes and way too many Grell-like pointy teeth; Ciel (with no hesitation) grabs his tailcoat as he turns away to kill everyone with a saw-toothed arm; and Sebastian picks Ciel up in the air with all his black tendrils and then thumps him back into his chair—at which Ciel’s annoyed thought is, “stupid demon! He’s definitely doing this [misinterpreting my words] on purpose!” Sebastian also cradles the edge of Ciel’s face in his hand and then stares at him upside down with his hair falling into Ciel’s face as he says “once you’ve completed that revenge, the moment the contract has been fulfilled, I shall receive your soul as recompense.”

All that could have easily been taken in a suggestive manner by Ciel, but—whether or not he is right to think so—what Ciel seems to find it suggestive of is specifically _ hunger _, and the pushing of his personal space boundaries he takes as though Sebastian were an animal—specifically, his dog Sebastian—and not as if he were human. It’s easy enough to draw this conclusion because Ciel’s response to humans who do the same thing is markedly different. By later on in the manga it’s less obvious, but in the flashback where you see him first arrived home, he reacts to Elizabeth’s unsolicited hug (and there’s no way he sees her as a threat) by standing limply with his arms hanging at his side; he shows the same with Madam Red’s unsolicited hug shortly after he came back, as you see in her cinematic record—and it’s also very clear that he loved Madam Red a lot, so I would venture that the reason is not because he had any doubts about her either. Ciel reacts to Sebastian’s actions when they meet either by brazening him out or with simple confusion, but doesn’t seem *disturbed* per se, once he’s stopped being terrified by Sebastian’s initial appearance/bunch of animals.

In the same scene, Sebastian reveals that he is different than some other demons in how he treats his contracts. “I make it a point to not enter more than one contract at a time. Though others of my kind will not hesitate to act according to their filthy greed, I find that most unbecoming. It is against my aesthetics.” (I can’t help comparing this to Season 2, and Claude’s actions there. He didn’t manage to make multiple contracts at once but he certainly seemed like he wouldn’t have minded doing so.) 

“Demons have aesthetics?” Ciel asks. 

Sebastian answers, “yes, even demons have a few policies they like to stick to.”

There seems to be a definite judgment Sebastian casts here on other demons, and a dislike for “filthy greed” which he has probably seen quite a bit of in his life, what with granting wishes and desires that are usually motivated by greed.

In 3x01/Book of Circus (His Butler, Presenting) Sebastian monologues about his demon and butler aesthetics, which are different yet complementary. “A butler’s day begins early. He must set to work before anyone else. Ironing his master’s newspaper, and preparing the morning tea-service.” (With the obligatory break for the most important thing of all: cats!) “He does whatever necessary to ensure the continuity and comfort of his master’s daily life. It is all part of the butler aesthetic.” — “A demon’s nights are long. He must keep a sharp watch to prevent anyone from harming his delicate prey. Such purity must not be sullied. He does whatever necessary to ensure that he will receive a soul brimming with despair, when his master’s foolish desire has been met. It is all part of the demon aesthetic, you see.”

Later on in Book of Circus, Sebastian faces off with William T. Spears, who has his own opinions on how demons act and what they are like. In episode 4 (His Butler, Coworker) William and Sebastian have this exchange:

W: you cannot believe that I would reveal soul-related information to a demon. That would be like setting a bunch of rabbits free at the mouth of a wolf den.

S: I’m afraid you mistake me. I have no interest in cheap souls. My tastes are more refined.” 

W: fine words from a starving demon like yourself. I know you must be half-mad with hunger. 

S: again you are mistaken, I have long since tired of ripping into every stray soul I happen upon. After all the hungrier one is the more satisfying one’s dinner shall be. And you can rest easy for the moment, at least. I’m on a short lead.

He then shows William the contract symbol on his hand. (The same conversation occurs in chapter 26 of the manga, but he says, “I have a collar around my neck” instead.) 

The times when Sebastian “ripped into every stray soul he happened upon” might perhaps refer to an earlier time when Sebastian was involved in the Black Death. If anything could make someone get tired of food, it would be _ too much _ food when none of it is particularly satisfying. Sebastian’s opinions on souls are further elucidated in 1x20 (His Butler, Escaping) when Angela says, “you must be beyond ravenous by now,” and offers to give him any and all souls he wants when she destroys the world. Unfortunately, for Sebastian, it’s been there, done that. “My palette grows weary of simple unclean souls,” he says. “I crave ambrosia. My young master is the only one I want.” Similarly, in the musical _ The Most Beautiful Death In The World _, at the end when the thousand souls are all floating around, he does not touch a single one, as commented on by William, who still doesn’t get it.

Throughout the whole Circus arc, William reminds Sebastian how demons “are” and Sebastian, consequently, plays to type. This is most notable in episode 6 (Liasion) and in the same part of the manga, where Sebastian is on his way out of the circus to gain information on Baron Kelvin, but is stopped in his tracks by William, who says he won’t allow him to leave. Sebastian’s first tactic is to straight up ask for one hour to complete his mission, and in return he offers to never eat a soul in William’s territory, but William rejects the offer, saying, “demons seduce their prey into darkness with sweet words; it’s the oldest cliché of your kind.” Sebastian then says he’ll use other means to get his information, and when he runs into a distraught Beast, he plays on her fear and sadness, and seduces her in order to ask her about Kelvin. It’s the most unpleasant thing Sebastian has done onscreen that was not in response to a direct order; with perhaps the runner-up being the similar scene in 1x14 (His Butler, Supremely Talented)/chapter 18 with Soma where Sebastian thinks the prince needs to be taught a lesson and convinces him that no one ever loved him or cared about him. What’s most interesting is not that Sebastian was so bad—after all, as William has just recently pointed out, that’s rather what we expect—but that it wasn’t the option he tried first.

Even Ciel assumes that Sebastian secretly wants to act worse than he usually does; for example, in chapter 99, during the Green Witch arc, when Ciel tells Sebastian to get rid of the evidence. As usual, Sebastian asks Ciel if he’s sure he should be leaving the details to him (similar to his speech in the ripper arc, after revealing he sent Ciel on a wild goose chase and threw all his papers in the air—and before he knelt down and picked them all up again, because he’s a drama queen but he’s also a butler and _ someone _ has to do it). Ciel says, “I won’t be there, and there won’t be any survivors. Feel free to go crazy like a beast.”

As Sebastian destroys the evidence, he thinks, “Ahh. My master. You’re misunderstanding something. What I find most entertaining now… is playing the butler in my game with you. It’s not behaving like a frenzied beast. However, if that’s how you like me, I’ll act accordingly.”

All the way back in chapter 13, when standing by the gravestone Ciel had made for the Ripper’s last victim, Mary Jane Kelly, Sebastian says, “you truly are kind,” looking at Ciel, who has his back turned to him, with a fond expression. (seriously, look at it—it’s fond.) It’s only when Ciel denies this that Sebastian continues, asking if he should call Ciel a coward instead and why he didn’t shoot Madam Red??? In the School arc, chapter 69, Sebastian says that the students “all praise my easily comprehensible explanations and my kindness” seeming somewhat smug or even proud of it.; which Ciel counters by saying “ha! If only I could show them what your actual teaching methods are like.”

Sebastian seems to easily become absorbed in his disguises. In chapter 73, when he follows Ciel out onto the school grounds at night to purple house in order to find Derrick Arden, he says, seeming a bit concerned, “but, young master, are you not sure to be penalized with two Ys if you leave your house at this time of night?” There’s no real reason for him to be concerned about this, except if he’d been absorbed in his tutor/schoolteacher aesthetic.

Ciel has to remind him, “Isn’t it the masters who mete out punishments to the students?” and makes it more clear with a challenging, “hmm, mister Michaelis, sir?”

“Aah. Yes, you are correct,” Sebastian answers. In the scene after that the two play quite purposefully with their multiplicitous nature as master & servant, demon & soul, teacher & student, but the setup for that “breaking character” has come from Ciel, and not Sebastian.

And at the end of the Green Witch arc, in chapter 106, Sebastian says to Ciel, “why don’t you become slightly more kind [in regards to how you treat Sieglinde]?” Of course, Sebastian is the one who has been putting Sieglinde through her torturous lessons so it’s a bit of a pot/kettle situation. Sebastian continues, kneeling down to look at Ciel, who has flopped onto the bed, from an equal vantage-point, saying, “your intuition differs from other humans. It is cruel to wish that upon others.” He may be referring here to the fact that while harsh words/scariness worked to motivate Ciel to come back to himself during the Green Witch arc, and how his usual “terrify you all into complying” tutoring method (most notably employed on multiple people during the Performer OVA, where they all put on the play _ Hamlet _) works on Ciel, other people need encouragement. Ciel answers, “you say that but you don’t understand human emotions. If ordered, you would do anything, no matter how cruel, like a beast.” And Ciel should know: at the end of the Circus arc, episode 9 (His Butler, Serene)/and the manga, when Ciel first tells Sebastian to burn the manor, Sebastian reminds Ciel that the guilty are dead and their mission was also to rescue the children. When Ciel screams an order to burn it anyway, he even looks regretful before he does so; but as soon as the flames are lit, he smiles, as though to say, if I’m going to do this I may as well enjoy myself.

In fact, Sebastian is encouraging/kind to Ciel, but when it becomes too obvious Ciel pushes back against it—most notably in Book of Circus episode 7/and the manga, when Sebastian takes Agni’s advice under his observation that Sebastian isn’t kind enough to coddle Ciel, which Ciel takes badly. Possibly precisely because Ciel reads it as an insincere affectation—although Sebastian’s actual motivation may have been simple scientific curiosity; really wondering if Agni, who seems to have good ideas sometimes, might be onto something.

Agni might be onto something with anyone _ except _ Ciel, as Sebastian slowly learns. Even from their very first meeting, when Sebastian can’t be bothered to act like he cares about Ciel at all, Ciel takes it in stride, to Sebastian’s amazement. When Sebastian has to remind Ciel that he just sold his soul, in chapter 139, and that Real Ciel was just his ticket over, Ciel says, “Oh, I see. Understood.” Sebastian says, looking baffled, “you acknowledged that quite readily? When this conversation comes up, people tend to fall into a panic.” 

It’s very possible that it’s actually Sebastian’s _ lack _ of social, polite kindness that makes Ciel feel more comfortable around him than around most people. For one thing because Ciel himself has no patience for social politenesses of all sorts, thinking it’s boring and a waste of time; and also because it’s another thing that differentiates Sebastian in his mind from the grown humans who acted in all the “right” ways and then secretly enjoyed torturing little kids. Again, the fact that Ciel sees Sebastian as a beast—that he doesn’t trust him one bit [to not randomly try to start eating him] as he mentions in chapter 99—may be precisely what allows Ciel to feel somewhat safe around him. He even makes a nod toward something of the sort in chapter 13, during the ripper arc, where he says, “a devil possesses neither ‘beliefs’ nor ‘loyalty.’ He has only his ‘aesthetic,’ his philosophy. And you will protect me in its name.” A deal motivated by hunger and built up by the rigid logic of an “aesthetic” is something Ciel can more readily conceptualize and feel out the limits of than something motivated by human emotion.

To say that Sebastian doesn’t understand human emotion is rather untruthful, as he displays his knowledge of human emotion, from how to play people to how to gain loyalty to how to put on a good show, time and time again. (Although he also shows a consistent capacity to be surprised by human thought processes and motivation—go to basically any chapter and I guarantee you can find a shocked Sebastian face.) He treats the servants better than he necessarily needs to, as they discuss among themselves during the murder arc when they think Sebastian is dead. Some of this may be argued to have been learned from Ciel himself, as shown in the Mey-Rin flashback from her hiring, (chapter 162) where Ciel puts her at ease by eating without paying attention to etiquette and throwing her the bun he had taken a bit out of to assure her the food was safe to eat, while Sebastian was preoccupied with the proper way to do things according to the aesthetic he’d taken on, not seeming to realize what Ciel was trying to accomplish.

Sebastian knows—of course, because he was there when Ciel got in in the first place—when Ciel is secretly devastated by losing his family ring, and gives it back to him, in 1x03 (His Butler, Omnipotent) as well as keeping him from striking Lizzy. 

He also goes to Arthur Conan Doyle in a dream to personally entreat him to write more Sherlock Holmes stories in the Murder arc side story, just because he knows Ciel is a fan of his work. 

Sebastian consistently mentions that he hates dogs; yet he turned into one when he and Ciel first met. There are two ways to read this—one is that he didn’t have any particular opinions on dogs until Ciel named him after one, and then decided he hated them; the other is that he already hated dogs but turned into one anyway as part of his power-move in the beginning. What the latter might show is that Sebastian will even do something he dislikes if he thinks it’s expected or necessary. What the _former_ might show is that Sebastian can and does change as a character over time.

Interestingly enough, though you’ve seen Sebastian’s tendril/darkness form multiple times, you haven’t seen him become other animals in the manga since the chapter where he first appeared, with the explanatory words on the front page of chapter 139 being “I am nothing, and I can become anyone.” Symbolically, this reinforces the fact that unlike when he first appeared, he is no longer “nothing”, he is Sebastian.


End file.
